Sleep(less) Beds

Representations and meanings of the bed / bedroom space in history, the arts, society, culture, philosophy

This call for papers asks you to examine the bed / bed space / sleep / sleeplessness across media and the arts; across societies and eras. What are the functions, rules, morals, design, meanings given to 'the bed'?

The bed (room) might be taken as the site of extremes of human emotion: Passion (sexual); Anger (violence, rape, argument); Sadness (death, sickness, and mourning); Joy (childbirth, conception). The bed might also represent domestitude, alienation, boredom or study. They indicate wealth or poverty, privacy or togetherness. They can be sites of voyeurism or sites of travel, a place of protest or a place of horror.

This interdisciplinary issue welcomes papers from across academic disciplines. Suggested topics include, but are not restricted to:

Changing / divergent function of the bed The bed as a site of transgression Dreaming, travelling, exploration, fantasy/em> The bed as a site of retreat / comfort The social function of the bed Changing styles of beds and bedrooms The bed(room) in film, literature, or art The politics of beds / sleep

Creative Submissions also welcome

Critical essays should be between 4,000 and 7,000 words. Creative submissions should be no more than 7,000 words .